When Mallory Kirkland looked through the microscope at a frog femur, she felt like she might be looking at her future — in more ways than one.

Kirkland, 21, a senior at Maryville College, plans a career in medicine, probably orthopedics. She also has epilepsy.

And she just spent the last year working on a research project that combined both interests: a look at whether a certain type of drug used to treat epilepsy affected bone mineral density over time.

“Going into the study, I was thinking, ‘Oh, my goodness, I’m going to be taking this drug for who knows how long — am I also going to have osteoporosis?’” Kirkland said.

Kirkland’s study used a frog model to study the effects of valproic sodium salt on the cells in the leg bone. She used African pond frogs as models; because they absorb the drug directly through their skin, it was easy to control the amount they received by putting it in the water in their tanks, she said. There was also a control group, which got plain water without the drug.

Studies have shown some other drugs used to control epilepsy do decrease bone density, as well as estrogen. It especially could affect women who have serious or frequent seizures and must take the drug long-term, into the later years, Kirkland said.